Team Minato

"Grandmother, I'm home!"

Obito pushed open the door of the shabby wooden house and stepped inside.

It was already past nine at night. Grandmother had finished dinner and was busy with some chores.

"Obito, have you eaten?"

Obito nodded. "Grandmother, I've eaten."

After exchanging a few casual words with Grandmother, Obito headed to his room.

Ever since late afternoon, right up until now.

Obito had kept Kurenai locked inside the Kamui Dimension, and he had no idea whether she had woken up yet.

He had to get her out as soon as possible.

"Kamui!!"

Obito's eyes turned from black to red, and space rippled in a spiraling distortion before him.

Kurenai Yuhi emerged from the void and slowly descended onto Obito's bed.

Her eyes were still shut, and she remained unconscious.

Obito leaned in and took a careful look at Kurenai.

Her pretty, fair face carried a faint blush.

Her long lashes, pert nose, and small cherry lips, which pursed from time to time, sent a flutter through Obito's heart.

"She's a real beauty in the making. Already so pretty at this age."

Obito chuckled, his face unconsciously drawing closer.

He puckered his lips, intending to kiss Kurenai's little mouth and savor what he hadn't had time to experience that afternoon.

Creak~~~

"Obito! You need to take a bath before bed. It's so hot these days..."

The door opened, and Grandmother poked her head inside.

Her words stopped abruptly halfway through as she caught sight of Obito with his lips puckered.

Grandmother immediately flew into a rage.

She flung the door open, grabbed the broom outside, and charged in to give Obito a thrashing.

"Obito!! What on earth are you doing?! You're both still children! How could you do this?!"

"Whose daughter have you brought home?! How could you do something like this?!"

Though Grandmother was old, she could plainly see that Kurenai was unconscious.

She assumed Obito had deliberately knocked Kurenai out and brought her home to do something indecent.

"Grandmother... I was wrong... just hear me out first. Ow~~~ stop hitting me~~"

In Konoha Year 47, Obito turned ten.

Over the past year and more, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin had completed forty-eight D-rank missions and twenty-three C-rank missions together as Team Minato.

D-rank missions were simple, mostly tasks like catching cats, pulling weeds, and picking trash out of rivers.

C-rank missions were a little harder, such as serving as a bodyguard for a wealthy man.

Or escorting someone rich to a particular destination while guarding against bandits who might appear along the way.

Ever since Danzo had caused that incident and given others leverage over him, he had behaved much better.

Perhaps Hiruzen Sarutobi had reprimanded him behind the scenes; he had hardly caused the Uchiha any more trouble.

Recently, the fighting on the front lines had grown increasingly fierce.

The major ninja villages kept stirring up trouble and had their eyes on the Land of Fire's territory. Danzo had already gone to the Amegakure front to serve as commander-in-chief.

The Uchiha Clan finally enjoyed a stretch of peace.

Although they still frequently received complaints in the village over their heavy-handed law enforcement.

Without Danzo undermining them, their situation was much better overall.

Another morning arrived.

They had a new ninja mission to carry out that day, as Minato had told them yesterday.

After eating breakfast at home, Obito checked his ninja tools and clothing, said goodbye to Grandmother, and headed straight out.

On the wide sidewalk outside the Ninja Academy, another elderly woman had spawned that day.

Carrying a large bundle on her stooped back, the elderly woman shuffled along unsteadily, muttering to herself:

"Once you get old, you're no use anymore. Even crossing the street is so hard. If only a young person could give me a hand."

[Ding! Respect the elderly and care for the young mission triggered. Host must carry the elderly woman princess-style to her destination.]

[Complete the mission to receive one copying opportunity and one random reward.]

The system's notification rang out in Obito's mind.

As an exemplary young boy with fine morals, how could Obito back down when an elderly woman needed help?

But the mission the system had assigned was a little troublesome.

A princess carry?

Wouldn't carrying an elderly woman princess-style be a little too weird...?

Still, for the sake of the system rewards, Obito did not back down.

"Ma'am! Where are you going? I'll take you there."

Without another word, Obito jogged over, scooped the elderly woman into his arms, and dashed across the road.

After so many years of helping elderly women cross the street.

Obito was now thoroughly practiced and knew how to keep from jostling them.

Once he learned that she was going to Konoha Hospital, he carried her straight toward her destination.

The elderly woman chuckled happily the whole way.

She had probably never experienced being carried like this in her entire life.

"Young man, you did very well. Here's a reward from me."

At the entrance to Konoha Hospital, the elderly woman smiled cheerfully, pulled out a handful of candy, and pressed it into Obito's hand.

[Ding! Respect the elderly and care for the young mission triggered. Mission to carry the elderly woman princess-style to her destination completed.]

[Distributing rewards to the host. Reward 1: one copying opportunity. Reward 2: one set of assorted ninja tools.]

After the system notification ended, the rewards appeared in the system's storage slots.

Obito took a quick look.

The set of assorted ninja tools included twenty shuriken, ten kunai, five explosive tags, and three Fūma Shuriken.

It was a complete set of ninja tools, all packed inside a backpack.

"Thank you, ma'am! I wish you good health~!"

Obito accepted the candy and waved goodbye to the elderly woman.

Seeing that there were only five minutes left before the meeting time, Obito hurried toward the Ninja Academy.

On a wooden bridge several kilometers from the Ninja Academy.

Kakashi, Rin, and Minato Namikaze had all arrived at the meeting place ahead of time.

Kakashi glanced back at the intersection behind them and said flatly, "Obito's late again. No surprise there."

Rin smiled with her hands behind her back. "Let's wait a little longer. Maybe something held him up."

Minato agreed. "That's right, Kakashi. Let's give him a little more time. He should be here any moment."

Kakashi shook his head helplessly. "Rin, Minato-sensei, if you two keep covering for him like this, he'll never break that bad habit."

A boy wearing a blue tracksuit and goggles appeared around the corner of the intersection behind them.

He waved as he jogged toward them, shouting, "Sorry, sorry! I'm late again!"

Kakashi snorted. "Hey! Don't tell me you're going to say you were helping an elderly woman cross the street again."

Obito scratched his head and gave an awkward smile. "Kakashi, how did you know? You saw me just now, right? I took her to Konoha Hospital."